Installed Mazda competition engine mounts in my SE,previously installed comp.trans mount while doing clutch. Now have very noticeable/annoying vibration in car/steering wheel. What are others' experience with these mounts?

 

I've heard they will do that. I need to replace mine but thinking I'll go with OEM because I don't need the extra vibes.

 

I replaced my mounts with hockey pucks, which I assume are just as hard as comp mounts.

yes, it sends way more vibration through the car. If this is a car you are street driving just get the OEM mounts.

Just for others future reference:

The theory behind competition mounts is that with regular soft rubber mounts your engine can rock back and forth. The energy used to rock the motor on the rubber mounts is of course energy created by the motor. Lost energy! So, if you eliminate the ability of the motor to move, you rechannel that energy back into the drive train! WOOOO! but while you may gain a bit more responsiveness, the sacrifice is that now, instead of the motor vibrating in the engine bay, your entire chassis is now the only dampener. Womp womp.

 

I understand the theory,i've used like mounts(energy suspension) in other vehicles and didn't have this much engine vibration. Had to try the comp mounts,will probably reinstall the oe mounts. I mostly drive it on the street,was always smooth,quiet,miss that. Definitely more responsive with this and other mods recently done, mildly irritating driven any distance,don't want to turn car into a rattletrap.

 

GSL-SE engines are normally very smooth. Sounds like yours is on its last leg. Heck I've got hockey pucks which are even stiffer than competition mounts, and I only get a little bit of vibes. I have the comp trans mount too. I would never go back to stock mounts.

 

Engine certainly not on it's last legs,previous to the mount install was butter smooth,no vibes transmitted to chassis. Car is tight,quiet,no rattles. While i like the performance upgrade the mounts provide,i take this car on trips/extended drives and the vibration is annoying. The comp trans mount has been in almost a year-didn't get this til put motor mounts in. Will also state here i'm a particularly picky f***er!

 

In that case you should look into the RB torque brace. Go back to stock motor mounts too.

I've never used the torque brace so I can't say that it works, but it sounds like your only option at this point.

 

Well, the RB torque brace is an interesting option in this case, but could then lead to even more vibration because it depends on the harmonic, and 2nd and 3rd waves. Adding the brace could damp the top of the engine, but links it to the drivers side fender, and would be the 4th mounting point. Its possible it would help, and for the low cost would be worth the effort.

I run one on my SE with RB strut tower brace, stock mounts on engine and transmission, and still get a bit of vibration mostly from the light aluminum flywheel. When you start modifying the spinny parts for better performance, you have to be willing to accept the tradeoff which is a less-smooth driver experience.

 

Have the torque brace,installing possibly this weekend. Considering going back to stock mounts. The brace effectiveness can be adjusted according to the install instructions from slightly loose to firm by adjusting the tension on mounting bushings on brace.

 

I have comp mounts on my road FB and we have hockey pucks on our race FB and while yes, there is more vibration it is still extremely minimal. I'm with several of the others and I'd say something is not quite right if it's vibrating that much.

Does it vibrate more at idle/at speed/under load/overrun?

 

At idle and low rpm,above that can't feel anything different.

 

I had this problem in my old 1979 Rx7 turned out to be a bad water pump.. Yes, I said water pump.
Vibrated the entire car. Maybe not relevant but just an idea.

 

This is a couple months old, but +1 on the water pump. Do you have a stock fan? Fan clutch going out can also cause some nasty vibration.

 

What other mods have you recently done? You mentioned them in a previous post. It may be
related.

I have a mild case of vibration at all rpms becuase I'm running an 82 flywheel with my original
80 12A. Slight imbalance but its livable.

At idle my car lopes and almost appears to have a port. It doesn't, its original and untouched.
I do have a hogged out nikki and my own ignition system installed. The nikki idled fairly
smoothly at about 900 rpm but the secondaries were sticky. So I adjusted the secondary stop
so they were just barely cracked to fix the binding that was making them sticky. I'll do the
real fix for the sticky secondaries next time I have the carb off the car, for now this works fine.
It had a side affect of making the idle a bit loping or lumpy. I realized the issue immediately
and will just live with it until I pull the carb when I have some spare time.

This is why I ask what your mods are. Tuning and timing can affect the way your engine runs,
especially at idle or low rpm. It could be one or more mods along with the stiffer mounts is
what is causing the problem for you. If you can understand it then you can either fix it or deal
with it.

 

Complete suspension go thru RB springs,Tokico Blues all around. Energy Suspension urethane bushings all around except for upper links in rear,replaced those with Mazda OEM. Suspension Techniques swaybars front and rear,rear adjustable. Aligned car. Comp.engine mounts. Complete RB streetport exhaust system,air pump,ACV delete/blockoff plate,new O2 sensor 110 amp Fd alternator,dual pullies/belts FC underhood fusebox & upgraded cables. New (cap rotor,wires,plugs-still has original plug wires-have these not done yet). Have oem motor mounts to put on, RB torque brace to install. Have not done anything else to car since accident & won't til i hear from insurance co.,which i haven't.... In the few miles i did drive it before accident,all was good except aforementioned vibration and slight intermittent noise in back which i think back of premuffler section may be contacting heat shield. Had to do slight bending of heat shield on exhaust install,replaced all exhaust hangers,glassbeaded & painted all brackets for hangers and muffler during install. Waiting....

 

Great inspiration thread

 

Just finished installing RB torque brace and new oe Mazda mounts and car is as smooth and vibration free as before comp. mounts were installed. Likely sell them as close to new,maybe 50-60 miles on them. Like how solid drivetrain feels,like when comp.mounts were in but no vibes at all. Still playing with adjustments on torque brace,have bushings snugged just lightly. Will adjust them tighter progressively on successive test drives to see if there's a point of no return with vibration,but as of now,all is good.

 

Thanks for the follow-up after so many months. It's nice to know the competition mounts will increase noise, and that your RB torque brace seems to help, without increasing noise. Good luck on the tension, and post back with your torque settings, if you don't mind.

 

Would have done install/posted back with results before now,car was involved in accident beginning of May. Other parties ins. co. was trying to total my car,took a bit of wrangling and time to get it all worked out,all went in my favor. In the meantime,car just sat under cover in garage. Did not want to do further work to car if it were to be totaled,that and was just disgusted about what happened and how i got jerked around by ins. co. for something that wasn't my fault....other than owning a 30 yr. old car they didn't want to pay to be fixed properly.